diff --git a/drivers/vdpa/vdpa.c b/drivers/vdpa/vdpa.c
index 2b75c00b10054d..fac89a0d817831 100644
--- a/drivers/vdpa/vdpa.c
+++ b/drivers/vdpa/vdpa.c
@@ -756,14 +756,19 @@ static int vdpa_nl_cmd_dev_get_doit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct genl_info *info)
 		goto mdev_err;
 	}
 	err = vdpa_dev_fill(vdev, msg, info->snd_portid, info->snd_seq, 0, info->extack);
-	if (!err)
-		err = genlmsg_reply(msg, info);
+	if (err)
+		goto mdev_err;
+
+	err = genlmsg_reply(msg, info);
+	put_device(dev);
+	mutex_unlock(&vdpa_dev_mutex);
+	return err;
+
 mdev_err:
 	put_device(dev);
 err:
 	mutex_unlock(&vdpa_dev_mutex);
-	if (err)
-		nlmsg_free(msg);
+	nlmsg_free(msg);
 	return err;
 }